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Voltron Wiki
__NOEDITSECTION__ Welcome to the Voltron Wiki! since November 7, 2008! Voltron: Defender of the Universe is a combining super robot that has captured the imagination of children worldwide. Voltron has two different incarnations: one made up of five robotic lions, the other of fifteen all-terrain vehicles. The lion variation is unquestionably more popular, though the vehicle variation still maintains loyal fans. Voltron was introduced to the world in 1984 with the animated TV program Voltron: Defender of the Universe. The show was actually a sanitized edit of two unrelated Japanese anime series with much of the violence and Japanese cultural conventions removed. Since the original airing, Voltron has stayed popular, spawning multiple toylines, a 1990s CGI-animated series, and a multiple comics series. Shout-outs to Voltron persist in pop culture, and a live-action motion picture is in development. Come learn more about the robot that is "loved by good, feared by evil"! |} | valign="top" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 50%;"| |} Enemies The Lion Voltron and the Vehicle Voltron fought two different enemies in the Japanese versions, but in the American edits, they tried to link them both together. Changes from the Japanese version Though airing in syndication, which offered other anime shows such as Robotech greater freedom to deal with subject matter such as death that were off-limits in most network children's programming, WEP's adaptation of Voltron was heavily edited to conform to the more strict standards of American television, as well as the standard name change of characters and concepts in Golion. Content edits *Shots of shooting/explicit torture (e.g., whipping) prisoners/civilians/slaves, and some shots of corpses were removed. *Bloody arena battles, most notably in the first episode of the series, were heavily edited to remove most of the graphic scenes of characters dying. *Zarkon's soldiers were referred to as robots as opposed to alien soldiers. Also, crews of space ships that were destroyed were often either said to have been evacuated prior or referred to as robot-ships in order to lessen the impact of their deaths. *In the case of special characters who died in the original series, they sometimes escaped (in the case of Haggar/Honerva) or sent off-planet to receive medical treatment for their injuries, even though they died in the original Japanese series. Since this was the case with Sven (Shirogane) and Nanny (Hisu), the scenes of their funeral and characters visiting their graves were thus cut. While Sven was "brought back" through the use of Shirogane's younger brother (who was an exact lookalike of his dead brother) being declared to be Sven, both Haggar and Nanny would be absent for several episodes until the show's United States exclusive second season aired, bringing them back to the forefront. Technical modifications *Lion Voltron featured new sound effects (Vehicle Voltron used the original Japanese effects). *Both Lion and Vehicle Voltron used different background music from their original counterparts. Plot changes ''GoLion'' *Both shows begin with the five pilots sent by the Galaxy Alliance, whose space-exploration mission takes them to a planet devastated by war. In Voltron, the pilots arrive on Arus, and are captured and taken to Planet Doom. They then escape and return to Arus, and become the pilots of the robot lions and Voltron. In GoLion, the initial scenes are actually of Earth, as the pilots have returned from their mission in the year 1999 to find that the entire population of Earth has been killed in a nuclear war. They are then captured and taken to Planet Galra, where the plot proceeds similarly.Voltron / Go Lion Origin Story *The entire plot involving Coran and his son Garrett was drastically altered for Voltron, with Garrett being revealed to be a clone of Coran's son and that Garrett and his mother were spirited away to another dimension by a mystic shaman they had befriended. In Golion, Garrett was indeed Coran's son, having switched sides due to his belief that his father abandoned him and his mother to die years earlier. Furthermore Garrett kills Nanny, who sacrifices herself to save Coran when his son fires at him (Nanny's death was omitted in Voltron and the character returns in the third season of episodes made for the United States). *Shirogane Takashi (Sven) was killed when he battled Honerva (Haggar), whereas in Voltron he was severely injured and later returned to help the Voltron Force.Voltron / Go Lion! Difference: Sven's Death His younger brother Sho (who was turned into Sven himself in the voltron series) was the one who fought Sincline (Lotor) at the siege of Planet Galra (Doom). Sho and Sincline fell to their deaths, whereas in Voltron they fell into a body of water and survived. *It was a goddess, not Honerva (Haggar), that split up GoLion due to his arrogance (GoLion is supposedly sentient, although this was subtly discarded in the series). *''Voltron'' 's "Queen Merla" arc never existed in the original Japanese run, and was created by Toei at the request of World Events Productions. The Japanese GoLion series ended with the destruction of the giant Daibarzaal (Zarkon) Beast Fighter, which killed him. *The Mecha Fortress could only transform one-way into the Flying Mecha Fortress, unlike the ability the Flying Fortress of Voltron had to transform back into the Castle of Lions in the second season of Voltron. *Lotor/Sincline kills Haggar/Honerva,; in "Voltron" Haggar's death is sidestepped as her death scene is omitted and the character briefly written out of the series as far as Haggar abandoning Lotor right before the assault on Planet Doom. ''Dairugger XV'' *Manabu (Jeff) has a serious relationship with Haruka (Lisa). *All the Galaxy Alliance officers a given episode focused on were killed, unless it was explicitly shown they survived (i.e., they are in succeeding episodes); likewise, this is also the condition for Drule officers and leaders. *The Voltron series starts with the Drules and the Galaxy Alliance having tense relations, with the Drules attacking the Explorer, on the grounds it violated their space. In the Japanese series, both powers were unaware of each other, and there was no overcrowding within the Alliance; the Explorer is merely an exploratory vessel, and the Drules are stretching their power, not looking for a new world. It is by fate that they meet, and that Dairugger XV is given a new mission. *Emperor Zeppo was killed in Dairugger XV. Also, Hazar died a martyr's death, and his body destroyed along with the Drule homeworld. *In the original, Captain Newley was Hawkins' superior officer. The dialogue in Voltron was rewritten to give the appearance that Hawkins outranked Newley. List of edits to eliminate scenes of death From claiming the soldiers and ships were actually robots, to eliminating all scenes with blood, to making up nonsense about alternate dimensions, etc. everything was done to eliminate death from Voltron, to appease American censors at that time. Goofs References External links * [http://www.voltron.com/ Voltron:The Official website of the Voltron Universe ]